How to Put One Picture on Top of Another on iPhone

To put a whole picture on top of another picture on your iPhone, add both images to a Freeform board, move the smaller image over the background, and capture the finished arrangement. If you only want a person, pet, or object from a photo, supported iPhones can instead turn that subject into a sticker and place it on another photo with Markup.

The Photos app does not offer a general long-press-and-paste command that layers an entire photo onto an open photo. Choose the method that matches your goal below.

Layer Two Whole Photos With Freeform

Use this method when you want to keep the overlay photo’s background, such as a small family photo inside a larger landscape. You need Apple’s Freeform app and two images available on your iPhone. Adding your own photos and arranging them does not require premium Content Hub images or AI editing features.

1. Open Freeform and create a New Board.
2. Tap the Media button, choose the option for your photo library, and add the background photo. Select the photo and drag a blue sizing handle until it is large enough for your composition.
3. Use Media again to add the second photo to the same board. Make this image smaller by dragging a blue handle.
4. Drag the second image from its center onto the background photo. To rotate it, place two fingers on the image and turn them.
5. If the second image is hidden behind the first, select it, open More in its formatting tools, and choose Front. Alternatively, select the background image and choose Back.
6. Tap empty space to deselect the images. Zoom and position the board so the entire composition is visible without selection handles.

Apple documents adding your own images to Freeform and positioning and layering items. You can also copy an image from another app, tap empty space on the board, and choose Paste; the paste destination is the board, not an open photo in Photos.

Save the Arrangement as a Picture

For a quick image to share, take a screenshot of the arrangement: briefly press Side + Volume Up together, or Side + Home on a model with a Home button. Open the screenshot editor if it is not already open, crop away the app controls and surrounding board, and save it to Photos. On older versions, tap the screenshot thumbnail, crop it, then choose Done > Save to Photos. Current versions may show a full-screen screenshot editor with different save controls; see Apple’s screenshot instructions.

A cropped screenshot is limited by the pixels captured on your screen. It does not preserve the original photos’ full resolution. For print work or a specific-size JPG/PNG, use an image editor with layers and image export. Freeform can also export a board or, on versions with scenes, a framed scene as a PDF; a PDF is not a photo-library image.

Put Stickers or Cutout Subjects on a Photo

To decorate a photo with a sticker already in your collection, open the photo in Photos, tap Edit > Markup > Add (+) > Add Sticker, then drag the sticker onto the photo. You can use an existing sticker without making a new one first.

Custom photo stickers are available on supported iPhones running iOS 17 or later. The detailed placement and reversal controls below follow Apple’s iOS 26 guide; use the version selector on Apple’s help pages if your interface differs. For an untouched copy, open the background photo’s More > Duplicate control first and edit that copy. See how to duplicate a photo on iPhone. Apple’s photo-duplication guide explains where the copy appears.

Make a Sticker From a Photo, if Needed

1. In Photos, open the source photo in full screen.
2. Touch and hold the person, pet or other main subject, then release when it is highlighted.
3. Select Add Sticker. The cutout appears in your sticker collection, which Markup can access.
4. If you want a different appearance, use Add Effect and choose an effect offered for that sticker, such as Outline or Comic.

Apple’s sticker-creation guide covers ordinary photos and Live Photos. Creating a moving sticker does not establish that a saved or shared decorated photo will animate; inspect the resulting file before relying on that behavior.

Place, Resize and Save the Sticker

1. Open the background photo and tap Edit, then the Markup pen icon. This opens the annotation tools described in Apple’s photo-editing guide.
2. Tap the Add (+) button and choose Add Sticker. Browse your collection for the sticker you want.
3. Touch the sticker and drag it onto the background photo. Position it over the part of the photo you want to decorate.
4. Adjust its size using a dot around its outline. Apple’s iOS 26 instructions describe rotating a second finger around the sticker before lifting the finger used to place it.
5. Finish with Done, including the final Photos editing confirmation if shown. Reopen the photo to check the saved placement before sharing it.

Apple’s Markup sticker instructions describe these adjustments. A subject cutout has its background removed, so use the Freeform method above when you need the entire rectangular image. You can also use sticker packs from the App Store; check an app’s price and subscription terms before choosing one.

Undo the Photo Edit or Remove a Saved Sticker

These are separate operations. Undoing a photo edit changes that photo; removing an item from your collection changes which sticker you can reuse.

• During editing: use Undo to reverse an unwanted edit, or Cancel and discard the changes if you want to abandon the editing session.
• After saving in Photos: Apple’s reversal guide says to open the edited photo, tap More > Revert to Original. This returns the photo to its original version, so keep a separate copy first if you need the other edits too. A separately exported or received image may not contain the original editing history.
• Remove a sticker from the collection: open a photo’s Edit > Markup > Add (+) > Add Sticker controls. Touch and hold the collection item and select Remove, as documented in Apple’s sticker-creation guide. This is not the photo-reversal command.

If you use iCloud Photos, Apple says photo edits are saved across your devices. Stickers also sync through iCloud to devices using the same Apple Account. Check the photo and sticker you selected before making a change.

What About iOS 16 or Missing Controls?

Apple introduced Freeform with iOS 16.2. If you are on an earlier iOS 16 release, update to a supported version before using it. Apple’s iOS 16 Freeform instructions also describe blue sizing handles and the Back/Front controls. Use the Freeform method on iOS 16; do not look for the later custom-sticker workflow there.

• No Add Sticker: confirm that your iPhone supports the feature and its software is compatible. Try a clearer photo with an identifiable subject. Use Freeform for a whole-image overlay instead.
• The second image disappears: bring that image to Front or send the background to Back.
• The image looks blurry: start with a larger source photo, avoid enlarging a small image excessively, and remember the screenshot resolution limit.
• Copy Edits appears in Photos: that copies editing adjustments; it does not put one photo’s pixels on top of another.

For related editing, sharing and transfer tasks, browse our iPhone Photos & Camera Guides.